This invention relates generally to chemical lasers, and, more particularly, to a delta wing nozzle assembly for use within a chemical laser in order to increase the mixing rate between the reactive ingredients within the resonant cavity of the laser.
The development of the laser has created a new area of technology which finds application in many systems already in existence today. For example, lasers can be found in the areas of optical communications, holography, medicine, cutting, calculating and in radar. The utilization of the laser in such areas is in many instances dependent upon the amplification of the existing laser radiation.
One type of laser which has rapidly gained acceptance in such areas as optical communications and optical radar where high output power is highly desirable is the chemical laser. The chemical laser refers to a laser in which the required population inversion necessary for laser operation is achieved directly by chemica1 reaction. An example of such a chemical laser is the HF or DF, continuous wave supersonic chemical laser.
In general, mixing of the reactive ingredients (oxidizer and fuel) of the chemical laser is accomplished by the injection of the reactive ingredients into the resonant or optical cavity by means of of mixing nozzles. For example, a plurality of parallel nozzles inject an oxidizer such as atomic fluorine in an inert diluent such as He, Ar, N.sub.2, etc. at supersonic speeds into the resonant cavity. Molecular hydrogen (or deuterium) fuel is also injected into the cavity between the fluorine nozzles and reacts with the atomic fluorine to produce HF.sup.* or DF.sup.*.
The requirement to achieve the rapid mixing of the two supersonic streams of reactive ingredients has resulted in fine scale nozzle arrays requiring costly fabrication techniques and multiple assembly processes. These designs consist of multiple modules, each of which contain a large number of cavity injector nozzles. Failure of any one nozzle element can result in the loss of the module and perhaps the loss of the entire device. The viscous losses inherent in these fine scale nozzle arrays necessitates large quantities of diluent gas to maintain supersonic flow in the resonant cavity in the presence of the heat release from the cavity lasing reaction. This results in significant system penalties when compared to the theoretical potential achievable if these viscous losses could be minimized. The large thermal and viscous losses inherent in the conventional nozzle arrays result from the large exposed surface areas and small dimensions. These losses are present in all of the current high pressure devices, and their existence prevents the achievement of the full potential of the chemical laser.
Consequently, there continues to exist a requirement for a more satisfactory device for mixing the reactive ingredients in the optical or resonant cavity of a chemical laser. Lower practical limits in nozzle dimensions have been reached and while transverse jet injection schemes have proved effective in increasing the mixing rate and, hence, performance, they have brought about other undesirable features and limitations such as loss in mode length and operation in an unfavorable high temperature, low Mach number regime.